Have Kit, Will Travel

My last post touched on the balance between continuity, contest, and safety. The gator roll, as we Americans call it, is a move which is singlehandedly destroying the contest for possession previously known as the ruck. Others call it the saddle roll or Judo roll because it comes from MMA. We've decided to penalize it but only if done wrong, around the neck or head. Watch Red #3 roll a legal defender who is contesting for possession until he is rolled off his feet:

Red maintained possession and scored a try when there should have been a turnover...no wonder why Ulster got smoked ;). The Game Management Guidelines have explicitly allowed this move for over a year despite its direct conflict with the laws of our game:

A ruck requires a minimum of two players, on their feet. It is a contest for possession.

Players joining a ruck must bind and be on their feet.

Players in a ruck must stay on their feet and must not intentionally collaps a ruck. THIS IS DANGEROUS PLAY. The laws are fairly clear on how this phase of play should be managed and the gator roll doesn't seem to be in compliance with those laws. Some argue that the roll is not part of the ruck, it's pre-ruck, and therefore should be allowed. If that is the case, we have a tackle or sometimes a player on the ground who hasn't been tackled. Checkout law 15 which doesn't address arriving players being allowed to make contact with their opposition who are on their feet. Law 10 is quite clear that any contact with a player not in possession of the ball is forbade except at a scrum, maul, or lineout: 

Rugby is a game of laws, intended to promote contest, continuity, and above all else the safety of players. Match officials are constantly trying to weigh each to promote a game that is fast, exciting, and safe. Sometimes you have to sacrifice continuity if a team cheats (not releasing) and unfairly wins possession. Other times you let minor infractions slide (not straight) in order to move the game along. We call this process materiality and it allows us to bring a match back into balance by tipping the scales in favor of continuity or contest. Safety should always trump the other two legs of the stool but some aspects of the game have focused on the latter. 

One example was the contest for the ball in the air when a chasing player would "contest" for the ball and take out the player trying to catch it. Rugby doesn't have a fair catch rule (marks don't count) as we want to promote a contest. Players were being encouraged to hurl their bodies into the receiver to disrupt play and it was allowed so long as their eyes were "on the ball." That's changed this year in the new Game Management Guidelines as "the chasing player if responsible for the safety of the receiving player, as in a tackle." This change was in big part to this play in the 2014 English Premiership which caused much controversy:  

This play, rightly, received a RC as the chasing player took out the receiver despite having his eyes on the ball. Many voices in the rugby community called for it to be considered a "fair contest," and should have been play on. This type of contest occurs at nearly every kickoff and at many kicks ahead which can be very dangerous (see above). The GMG's have it right and will hopefully reduce the number of collisions in the air, better than it's reduced the number of spear tackles. Here's a few more examples from the recent Saracens vs Munster match:   

Here the Munster player has eyes on the ball, jumps to contest, and nearly wins the ball. The action sends the Saracens player tumbling but here we have play on and the GMG's seem to agree.

The player maybe, maybe has his eyes on the ball but clearly takes catching player out. He is right to PK and should have likely considered a YC given how the player fell to the ground.

What’s in a name? Shakespeare would be pleased to be quoted by a traveler in his home land but had Rugby existed in his time he certainly wouldn’t have recognized what I officiated on Wednesday. The Gloucester Old Boys is a deceiving name as their players were mostly young and unlikely to make the Gloucester Premier side. Brockworth was more athletic, skilled, and passionate despite only arriving with 11 players and adding enough for a side by the time we kicked off which was 15 minutes late.

We made the best of it and there were moments of brilliant rugby but the host side had some injuries that eventually resulted in uncontested scrums. They also had a lock who could use an education in difference between mauls and tackle/rucks which he received via a public lecture following an off hand remark which was both offensive and deserving of a card. We played on and the player found himself in the bin for a dangerous tackle… Justice served :)

As mentioned, Brockworth dominated with a scoreline of 51-10. It was a match that could have gotten even more out of hand or even turned into a brawl had the tempers not been properly managed. Twenty-two penalties was certainly higher than my previous match (12) but right on my season average. As the assessor said, this match could have easily had thirty penalties so I did well to keep it at 22. My ARs were brilliant as we kicked it old school without the use of a communication kit. I requested that they only signal foul play while helping me manage offsides, side entry, and other minor infringements. I prefer having the ARs there to manage rather than relying on them to make calls…with the obvious exception of foul play. Guess that makes me a traditionalist of sorts :)

Similar feedback from the assessor as I generally talk too much. It’s fine when facilitating a U19 match but not when the players know what they’re doing. As our host Ade Danks told me, “just shut up!” Will try that on Saturday…Sure Peg won’t mind ;). He also passed on some wisdom from Chris White, former IRB referee from Gloucester, that I should strive to show my secondary signal 3 times before resignaling my primary call. My goals going into the match were purely image based as the video from Saturday reviewed a few things. The biggest was my breathing as it sounded far too heavy on the recording. Every assessors has said I’m very fit but I made that observation as a point of control. I’ve also noticed that I go from very calm/collected referee to disappointed spectator when there are a number of resets. Trying to keep my head up and maintain that even keeled demeanor my assessors always love. Also wanted to work on my lineout positioning as I had ARs and could really experiment. Not a fan of the position they recommend but will try it again Saturday. Doesn’t hurt to give it that old college try ;)

Tuesday and Wednesday were the touristy portion of our trip with visits to Blenheim Palace (top) and Oxford (bottom). The palace was breathtaking and full of rich history. It was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill whose grandparents were the Duke and Duchess at the time. Just as cool was the Louis the XV memorabilia as the first Duke of Marlborough had defeated the French so a later Duke purchased the painting and chandelier from Versailles after it was ransacked during the French Revolution.

Open roof tour bus of Oxford today before our matches at 6. The top middle pic is the science museum while the rest is cool architecture. Had lunch in the Turf Tavern which felt like cask heaven.

Great (rugby) start to the tour with a county level match between two mid table sides; Cheltenham North vs Southam. My understanding is that county rugby, Midlands 3 West (South) League, is a step above the local Gloucester leagues and is quality rugby. Obviously not National or Premiership quality but as good (slightly better) than our D1 clubs in Boston. The hosts played some of their U20s to get them experience because neither club was up for promotion or relegation. They were the stronger side for the first half as they collected 3 converted trys and a drop goal while playing penalty advantage. Second half was a different story as the visitors ran in 19 points which was enough for the win despite conceding a kickable penalty with time expired. The call had me sweating as you never want to make that last penalty call with tyke match in the balance... sometimes you have to.

The resources here for referees are amazing! I’m sure it’s partially the red carpet treatment but I had a coach (also my ride), assessor, and a camera guy who provided some valuable feedback as well. About 50 minutes in I experienced the “real” Gloucester as there was a punch up that involved 20 players with some clear and obvious shots to the face including the visitor’s captain getting laid out. Could unfortunately only identify 1 player from the home side and took my time in deciding how to properly manage the situation. Did what I could to stop the brawl, stern warning to both captains, and restarted with a scrum. The assessor (Peter Shortell) was fine with it but the cameraman insisted you should never restart with a scrum even if it’s the right decision because it’s more likely to instigate another fight. Assessor suggested an alternative may have been to simply grab 1 player from each side and YC both as another option to prevent future rifts. Thankfully it’s a management issue we don’t have to deal with as often stateside but it certainly happens.

Only 11 penalties total…hard to rationalize/not sure if it was the quality of play, early statements, or if I simply didn’t call enough. Will be interesting to see the assessors report and video. He thought I was a good fit for the match level and “they’ll certainly get worse” :)

Perfect start to the tour and even greater wife! Forgot our tour kit, polos, and ties at home. By “our” of course I mean my fellow traveler’s as mine were stowed safely in my kit bag. Super Wife saves the day as she left work early, rushed home, and got them to us with plenty of time to spare. She’s ah-mazing! Incredible! Have I mentioned I really love my wife? She’s the greatest!

Another great match to be a part of this past weekend with a playoff bound D2 side taking on a D1 club. The Irish Cultural Center in Canton is a special place to referee as it’s the closest thing to international rugby you’ll get in the US. A pitch side clubhouse with referee changing room (and shower) and a pub on site for post match feed. Unfortunately, I was severely under dressed with my society tracksuit as most of the Wolfhounds were in coat and tie. Either way it was a great warmup for Gloucester, England as it even drizzled/rain for most of the match.

The weekend started with a U19 match on Friday, under the lights. I was a little late getting to the pitch and the boys were ready to kickoff while I was still warming up. It was their first time with the new scrum sequence and I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to be an issue during our pre-match. Unfortunately the new sequence with pre-binding threw off their confidence and early on it looked like we were running uncontested scrums. They finally got it after some encouragement and a few resets but nearly went to the opposite end of the spectrum with both sides early driving. The match was a little one sided though there were some solid athletes on both sides that scored some fantastic trys. The big plays made the match that much more fun as I spent most of my time coaching the players through phases just to get the ball moving. There was also a funny incident where the flyhalf kicked off the second half before my whistle as I was still in the process of getting my tracksuit off. Lesson learned, hold onto the ball until you’re ready to restart the 2nd half or at least on the pitch.

Saturday was a different story as I was at the pitch an hour and a half ahead of time. A light drizzle started just before kickoff and worsened by the end of the match. I had decided to go ahead with my voice recorder which I was regretting as the rain picked up in the 2nd half but the recording turned out well and no damage was done. Walking away from the pitch and into the locker room was a miserable feeling as there were far too many reset scrums, my FK count was going to be high, both SHs were constantly feeding, and of course I was frozen. I am often my own worst critic and this weekend was no exception as the coaches and captains seemed pleased with my performance...though most will be as soon as the pints are flowing.

The more time I've had to think about this match the better I'm feeling about my performance. Despite both coaches/captains seeming to be pleased after the match it was a different story during. You can hear in the audio where I may have lost my temper a bit and raised my voice to a level I typically try and avoid in response to player decent. There are two moments which stand out early in the 2nd half where players got in my face or were complaining about things that simply weren't an issue. I didn't feel right about my responses during the match but after listening back my concern may have been gratuitous. The 1st is ~2 minutes into the second half where a scrum went down because of poor footing and I was sick of the BIW back row claiming that it was due to Portland's 1 boring. The 2nd is ~5 minutes in where I was calling a knock on by the BIW near the ingoal. A Portland defender got in my face screaming it was a knock while I was trying to signal the call. He apologized shortly after which you can also hear on the recording.

Positioning was much better this match as I outran fewer tackles and used the pocket well. Both are still a work in progress as I adjust to this level of play. Mental focus was also much better as I tested myself by guessing the penalty and free kick counts on a few occasions throughout the match...surprisingly only 1 over each time. Another goal for the weekend was properly managing repeat infringements, especially as play approaches the ingoal. I handled this much better than the previous week, issuing a YC at the 65th minute to the BIWs for repeat in the 22. I warned them ~15 minutes in but Portland didn't smell the goal line again until the 2nd half. I reminded the captain again at the start of the 2nd and warned their replacement captain when the original left at the 60th minute. Portland started attacking again and after 3 penalties (2 back to back) I gave the YC to a replacement player who was also being testy with a few Portland players making it a good time for him sit for 10 minutes.  

Couldn't have been more perfect with the penalty count as each team was called for 5 per half for a total of 20. Several advantages gained including a QT and not 10 that led to a try...always sweet :)

There were 5 FKs in the match including an early drive and 2nd for the defense not getting back 10 with no advantage gained. One was for not matching numbers in a line out and I told BIW to match 3 times. Another was for intentionally kicking out of the tunnel which I warned the Portland hooker about and had to call after the 3rd time. The last was for a BIW early lift later in the match and it was so egregious/late in the match that I felt compelled to call. 

There were 14 reset scrums with 7 coming in each half. My abbreviated pre-match conversation was likely sufficient but I grew frustrated with the BIW 3 and Portland 1 who were more interested in screwing with each other than scrumming. At the 20th minute, I stepped to the mark and proceeded to go through the minute details of acceptable propping and finished with a, "now let's play actual rugby." I was so occupied by these 2 idiots and poor footing in the 2nd half which is likely why I didn't properly manage early feet up or skewed put-ins. Not surprisingly my friendly reminders of "clean feed" went ignored by both SHs. I should have done a better job of managing both, perhaps by taking them aside and telling both to cut it out before I had to get involved. If they didn't listen FKs, PKs, and cards for feeding would have just as easily cleaned up the reset scrums.

Here's the full audio from the match:

In addition to chatting with my evaluator, coach, referee support group, the NH HC, and even my former coach last week. I also had the pleasure to speak with referee extraordinaire Gary Devoe. He had seen a post I left on the USA referees Facebook group and suggested we chat:

In addition to chatting about pre-match, as well as 10 other things, he had a simple yet amazing suggestion for practicing mental focus. I should break my training sessions up into parts of a match e.g. first 5 mins, 1st open field kick, last 20, etc. Have a checklist or aspect of the match that I need to visualize during each and think through each as I run my sprints. Not sure why I never thought of it but it’s simple, relevant, and brilliant. Thanks Gary!